MY FIRST SIDECAR, or….. When is a motorcycle not a motorcycle?

I can’t remember exactly how it happened, but I woke up one day and realized my two favorite things in life were dogs and motorcycles, and they weren’t compatible.

Unless I got s sidecar……

Sometime in January I did some research and discovered that the big player in the sidecar business was Ural. They’re made in Russia and are a copy of a WWII German BMW.   Sure, it’s updated with disc brakes, fuel injection and the like, but it’s essentially the same design, mechanicals and engine from 80 years ago.

Robbie added a long list of accesories before I picked it up.

It was the middle of the Winter, but when the fever for a new motorcycle hits, the motorcycle Gods demand obedience.

I ended up buying my rig from Raceway Ural in Salem Oregon, and I can’t say enough good things about Robbie. Raceway a small shop and Robbie went out of his way to make the whole experience terrific. I gave him a looooong list of options and when I came back a few days later, everything was installed and looking great. I tried dealing with some larger shops before I found Robbie, but they made everything difficult. If you need anything Ural related, I encourage you to deal with Raceway Ural in Salem. www.racewayural.com

I’ve been riding bikes for over 50 years and 400,000 miles without a single accident. I have been on many of America’s best race tracks including Laguna Seca and Road America to name a few. I raced on many less famous tracks like Buttonwillow, Firebird Raceway and Pueblo Motorsports Park. I owned and operated my own 18 wheeler, drove a 40’ diesel pusher motorhome and have towed every kind of trailer there is. I currently have two Porsches. I own and operate heavy equipment. As an EMT I drove an ambulance, operating Code 3 while weaving through intersections and idiot drivers. I flew a light plane several times by myself with no instruction whatsoever, and lived to tell about it. In short, I’ve never found anything with a motor that I can’t operate, and operate well.

Then I bought my Ural sidecar and all of my prior experience didn’t mean a damn thing.

The day after I picked up the Ural, I went out with my friend and his dog in the sidecar. We went for a hundred mile trip South from Hillsboro, Oregon, towards Salem, then out to Tillamook and the Pacific Coast. Temperatures were in the 30s-50s depending on where we were, and there were icy patches and snow on the road in places in the mountains. Not the best day or time for a ride, but weather has seldom stopped me and I had to try out my new toy. As it turned out, I never should have taken my first ride in the Winter. I wasn’t properly dressed, and the shivering caused my muscles to cramp, which was not a good thing.  To say the least, it was not an enjoyable ride. That, and Oregonians love their studded tires, and the result is roadways with two ruts in each lane. I couldn’t feel these in my truck, but the Ural found and followed every one.

It was a disaster. The rig took everything I had to keep it on the road. It wouldn’t go in a straight line. When I accelerated, it pulled to one side and when I put on the brakes, it pulled to the other. It followed the ruts in the road like a slot car, bucking and fighting me every step of the way. Every time I changed gears, it changed direction, and the work involved made my arm and chest muscles ache.  Every turn meant I had to push on one bar and pull back hard on the other.  It wasn’t fun; it was work. And I was literally terrified of the thing.

At one point I was going around a sweeping right hander up in the mountains at about 40mph and realized I was going in too hot. I applied the brakes and the bike straightened up, crossed the center line and went off the left shoulder, through the bar ditch and into the weeds. If there had been an oncoming vehicle, I would have killed all three of us. My friend is 40+ years old and a former road racer, so he thought it was great fun and congratulated me on a safe landing.   The dog was nonplussed.  

I knew better. I had almost killed us all, and realized I had no idea what I was doing. A sidecar might look like a motorcycle, but it’s not. It steers like a pig on roller skates and I realized that all my prior experience was worth just about nothing.

I managed to get us home safely as darkness approached, but I was scared and humiliated, and reluctantly decided to sell the thing. I didn’t need a motorcycle that was difficult to operate and was going to kill me and anyone stupid enough to get in the damn thing with me.  It wasn’t so bad if I died, but I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt a dog.

The next morning, I went online to the Soviet Steeds forum to ask for help, as I’d decided to give it one more try before I put Ural up for sale. A bunch of very friendly, very understanding people replied and explained to me that my prior motorcycle racing experience was probably hurting me, because a sidecar is not really a motorcycle. They encouraged me to find someone who could instruct me.

I called Ural of Portland and spoke to Danny Patrick, a salesman I’d spoken to a few weeks earlier.  He told me that he could indeed teach me to stay alive on my sidecar, and for a very reasonable fee, agreed to meet me that weekend. Danny is an affable young man who takes great pleasure in helping others; especially when it comes to motorcycles.  He has a passion for all things motorcycle related.

We met a few days later and Danny spent a little while asking about my experience. He indicated that my road-racing experience, and maybe my age, might cause problems because I might be too set in my ways, but said that anyone could learn with the proper training. He instructed me in the basics and physics of a sidecar for about half an hour, then bravely sat down inside and off we went. He explained that a sidecar is steered much like a car, but the operator still needs to lean, and that acceleration, braking and shifting gears all affect the momentum and direction of a rig.

Two hours later I was flying the chair whenever I wanted to and was no longer terrified. Amazing enough, I don’t think he was either, and it can’t be a very safe feeling riding in a sidecar operated by a newbie. I paid him and it was the best money I ever spent. I very likely owe him my life.

The following weekend I took the Ural out again. No fear. No sweaty palms. No more terror. And I didn’t go down the road zig-zagging like I did before. That day with Danny taught me many of the nuances of operating a hack, and while it still takes a lot of strength and constant attention, it’s now my favorite ride.  So if you’re in the market for a sidecar, I can’t say how important it is to find someone who can show you the ropes. Sidecars aren’t easy, but the good things in life seldom are.

And now I get to take my dogs with me. How good is that?

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P.S. I just contacted Danny as I was writing this. Ural of Portland is no longer in business, so he’s now a factory rep for Aprilia and Piaggio; it seems that motorcycling is in his blood, whether it’s an ill-tempered Russian sidecar rig, a scooter, or a race-ready RS 660 Aprilia. Apparently, some people never grow up, and that’s a real good thing!